12 Tips for Successful App Store Review
The holy war between IOS and Android is never-ending. There are so many pros and cons of each of the platform. But we must pay tribute pay tribute to the Apple team because they have a strict vision concerning the quality of mobile applications. This is really great for the users because Apple team works hard to make the App Store a trustworthy ecosystem. App Store has a high threshold and tough requirements not only for the app’s performance but for the implementation of appropriate security measures. The user can be sure that IOS applications are reliable. However for the developers to fit all requirements can become a real hell. Just to compare, the development of the application can take only a few weeks, while the time spent of the passing App Store review can be up to a month (or even months if the developer disregards Apple developer guidelines).
As a software company, Dashdevs has more than 9 years of expertise in the development of IOS applications. We are working with various markets, industries, and different companies. The complexity of the applications diversifies too. We submitted 250+ apps for the review only during 2018. Not all of them passed the review from the first time. Sometimes we had real unbridled joy with these reviews. With this article we want to share our experience, so you can avoid common mistakes and easily pass the review stage.
How to apply for the App Store?
A shiny brand-new IOS application is developed, tested, and ready to see the world. A binary file is already uploaded to the iTunes Connect panel. You need to add basic information (description, tags, contacts) about your application, add screenshots, and credentials of a demo user account (if your application requires the authorization). You need to include detailed explanations of non-obvious features (like native gestures usage) and in-app purchases in the App Review notes. Then you need to press the button “Submit for Review” to inform Apple that your application is ready for the App Store. You’ll be notified if something important in the description is missing. Then the application status review will be changed to “Waiting for review” status. It can take a few days till the real check begins. When the verification team actually starts the review, the status of the application will be changed to “In Review”. Hint: You will save some efforts by installing iTunes Connect application on your iPhone to receive immediate notifications about all the changes of the statuses.
App Store review is a mandatory step for all applications. The process of the app verification sticks to the Apple Guidelines ensuring the best and the safest user experience. They are also reviewing the primary information about the application. A part of the verification is done automatically using the scripts and the other one is performed by people. If your application has an issue, you will receive a notification with a precise description of what should be fixed. The timeframe for the first stage of review stands 3 days up to 7 days. The inspection of the application updates is quicker — from 1 to 3 days.
Within the last years we assembled the list of issues you need to keep in mind to avoid the majority of problems during the App Store review:
- Use Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) for the design. Your designers should follow HIG from the very beginning. Sizes and position of the buttons, the correct usage of the basic UI elements, navigation must comply with Apple Guidelines. The fixing of HIG-issues can cost you much if you find these issues at the end of the development. Hint: Do not create an application that appears confusingly similar to an existing Apple product or any other application (no copycats). The Apple team is very strict about this.
- Check the functionality list. Your application must include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. The Apple team cares about the usefulness and benefits of the user. Once there was a case when one of our application was rejected. The Apple review team assumed that our app didn’t need to have the Sign up/Sign in functionality. Therefore, we sent the notice of appeal with the evidence of the relevancy of this functionality. Another case that we faced was a little bit different — the application was too simple for the AppStore (just a funny calendar). The application needed additional functionality. We have improved it by adding a sharing feature and it passed the review. One more significant rule to refer is that your application must not require the installation of other applications.
- Provide a demo account with full functionality to the Apple team. The App Store reviewing team will definitely try to register your app, but they will need to verify the rest of the features as well. For example, to review the functionalities of the bank application, they need to have an account with an activated card and some transactions on it. You need to be sure that the account accesses full functionality and all the back-end features are turned on. Hint: do not provide this account to your QA team for usual testing, especially during the review period. Once, we sent the application for the review, and at the same time our Quality Assurance engineer was testing the blocking functionality and occasionally banned a new user.
- No “test”, “coming soon”, “beta”, “trial”, “Testflight” namings in the app. All your future, unfinished, demo functionality must not be used in the app. Do not use these words for your application content at all, even for in-app screenshots and description. If you need to test your application, you can join Testflight services. We made a ridiculous mistake with our another application. As you know to prepare a submission to review, developers sometimes take screenshots of the application right from the TestFlight. These pictures are posted as the screenshots of the real app for App Store. If you do so, check twice, there can be the “Testflight” label in the status bar. When this happens, your application is rejected. This itty-bitty thing may block the submission of your application.
- Performance. No crashes, no slow performance of the app, no memory leaks are allowed for the AppStore applications. Incomplete app bundles and binaries that crash or perform with obvious technical problems in applications are rejected at once.
- Describe only the existing functionality. No advertisement of future features should be in the description of the app.
- Terms and Conditions / Privacy Policies. These documents or the links to these documents must be added to the app. You need to explain to the user how his sensitive data is processed and what data is shared by the app with the third parties and for what purposes (eg. analytics tools, advertising networks, and third-party SDKs, etc). A user needs to know the deletion and retention policies of your application.
- Intellectual Property. You need to have permissions to use all materials in the app (copyright issue). Do not use third-party trademarks, copyrighted works, or patented ideas in your app if you have not obtained necessary license. Remember about the restriction of using sexual or pornographic content, marijuana, tobacco, controlled substances, misleading quotations of religious texts, and violence in mobile applications.
- Licenses. If some regulations within your business area demand a license for providing your services, such as FinTech, Medicine, Healthcare, etc, you need to attach a copy of documents to the application review. If an app requires specific hardware, you need to provide a corresponding certificate or license for this hardware. Another case from our practice to mention is the application that is using a special sticker printer. At first, the application was rejected, and we needed to get a certificate to use these printers. It took us a month to get official approval from the producer of the hardware. The other example is the digital bank application. We needed to provide an AppStore review team with the E-money License. This also applies to the cryptocurrency-industry. “Apps facilitating Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”), cryptocurrency futures trading, and other crypto-securities or quasi-securities trading must come from established banks, securities firms, futures commission merchants (“FCM”), or other approved financial institutions and must comply with all applicable law”
- Ask user for permissions. Your application must ask permissions for using a camera, microphone, location, access to contacts, Camera Roll, and user locations. The permissions must be relevant to the application functionality. The App Store team cares that the information collected in the application is stored in the right way and prevents its unauthorized use, disclosure, or access by third parties. Hint: don’t forget to add a description of these permissions to the .plist file. This is another common reason for rejects.
- No mock-up data in the app. If your application has no content for some forms you need, hide this element or add a placeholder for it with an explanation of the cases how the user can get the necessary data. Sometimes developers hardcode to show the maximum user functionality. For example, your application has a section with charts displaying the user activity statistics in the app. In this case, there must be a placeholder with a prompt text that the chart will be available when the user starts to use an app on an everyday basis. With advertisements things are the same — you can not submit the app with empty ad banners or test adverts.
- Ability to moderate user’s content. “Block a user/content”, “report a user/content”, “blacklist for users” are required functionalities for the app if it provides multi-user communication (eg. feeds, chats, groups). As a product owner, you need to be conscious that different people will use your application and some of them may disturb the others. You need to provide the user with the levers of influence over the content and the community he/she is interacting.
With every submission of the application for the review, Dashdevs gains new experience. Our main advice is to submit your application to App Store review as soon as you have developed the MVP of your application. Keep in mind, that to pass the review — does not mean to release of the application.
There are three different actions to take after the successful review:
- Manually release this version: as a developer or an application manager, you need to go to the iTunes Connect panel and press the button to release the app.
- Automatically release this version: that means that the application will be published as soon as it passes the review.
- Automatically release this version after App Review, no earlier than..: you can select the time/date for the release. If your application passes the review, it would be published at this time.
These options can help developers and product owners/managers to pass the review and wait for the marketing campaign to start. You need to know that the first app review is the most critical, thus the App Store team verifies the application much longer and more thoroughly. Every further update is reviewed as well, but it takes less time for the verification. Sometimes can take just a few hours.
The App Store may reject your application. That’s OK. Do not panic. If you understand the reason, you just fix the issue and resubmit the application for the review. If you have questions or would like to provide additional information, you can use the Resolution Center to communicate with the App Review team. They are supportive and ready to help you with the application. We have fixed a lot of issues with their help.
We hope that 12 tips, hints, and examples from our experience mentioned in this article will be helpful for you and all your IOS applications will pass the App Store verification on the very first attempt.
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